Tarta de Zanahoria – Valencia, Spain (Vegan MoFo 2013 #9)

14th September 2013

This cute little not-to-be-missed restaurant, Tarta de Zanahoria offers a menu entirely organic and vegan that changes daily except for Thursdays which does not have vegan dishes because they serve one fish and one vegetarian dish. Surprisingly, this place is not listed on Happy Cow Valencia.

special note

We have made official travel plans for early 2014: Paris (France), Mexico City and Lima (Peru). Check out our travel schedule here. On Monday, we leave for Buenos Aires, Argentina, follow us on Instagram for more updates. We will miss Valencia, it’s an amazing city.

Upon arrival, you can simply let the proprietor know that you will be dining on the daily menu. The proprietor (her name is Estefanía Guerra, she’s the cook in the kitchen) did not speak English at all, but she was very helpful and understanding.

The daily menu is €10 and includes soup, salad, main course, dessert and tea (All are vegan except for Thursdays, they open Monday to Friday). Tarta de Zanahoria updates their menu daily on Facebook here, before the service, which is pretty convenient!

To start your meal off, there is a self-serve salad station with two to three salad options, bread and tea. You are allowed to take any combination of salads and are also welcome to go back for a second serving. After the salad you will be served the soup of the day.

If the restaurant isn’t very busy, the proprietor will likely bring each course to your table for you, but because it is a small restaurant, you might need to go to the counter to let her know that you are ready for the next course.

Following the soup, you will be given a choice of main-course – we had the option of Lasaña Boloñesa (Bolognese Lasagna) OR Crepes de Boletus (Boletus, or Mushrooms Crepes) for that day so we decided to try one of each.

Dessert is served after the main course and there is usually one option but they will occasionally have another option available for specialized diets – like a gluten free option.

Silverware and napkins, along with a few condiments and spices, are available up front. You bus your own table and there are bins for compostable and non-recyclable items.

The daily menu is €10 and includes soup, salad, main course, dessert and tea (All are vegan except for Thursdays, they open Monday to Friday). Water – €1.50, Beer or Wine – €2.50 and Cider, Juice or Refreshments – €1.80

Tarta de Zanahoria: Seating area, up to 21 pax. Very small, but it gets busier after 2:30pm. The restaurant opens 2-4pm Monday to Friday, except for Thursdays (not vegan). It’s best to get there by 1:50pm and wait until the service starts at 2pm.

Tarta de Zanahoria: Unique kitty artworks on the wall

Tarta de Zanahoria: Even the floor looks beautiful

Tarta de Zanahoria: My favorite salad of these three salad dishes I’ve tried: Ensalada Multicolor(Aguacate, Remolacha, Rúcula, Zanahoria, Maíz, Aceitunas, and Chucrut), which means, Multi-colored Salad with avocado, beets, arugula, carrots, corn, olives, and sauerkraut. I love the sauerkraut and the beets the most, including the garnished parsley leaves. On the same station, they also have other two salad dishes, bread and tea that I did not photograph. You are allowed to take any combination of salads and are also welcome to go back for a second serving.

Tarta de Zanahoria: A vegan Carob cake, made with spelt flour and from carob trees, common in Spain. It can be made gluten free however this one isn’t.

Tarta de Zanahoria: After the salad you will be served the soup of the day: Sopa Minestrone, or Minestrone Soup. It needs a bit of seasoning, and we realized in the end, there were few condiments and spices up front.

Tarta de Zanahoria: The main course – Lasaña Boloñesa (Bolognese Lasagna), it was a popular dish for the day. I like the dish, it was mildly sweet for me, but the creamy “cheeze” on the top was pretty good. The lasagna was a very good main course.

Tarta de Zanahoria: The other main course – Crepes de Boletus (Boletus, or Mushrooms Crepes). A lot of patrons chose the lasagnas that day. Doni ordered the Crepes to try and it appeared to be a dill & mushroom stroganoff on the crepes with crushed sesame seeds on the top. Perhaps two crepes would be great on a plate – it wasn’t as filling as the other main course – the lasagna.

Tarta de Zanahoria: The other main course – Crepes de Boletus (Boletus, or Mushrooms Crepes).

Tarta de Zanahoria: The two main courses of the day (Friday, September 13, 2013).

Tarta de Zanahoria: Apple Crumble contains a lot of walnuts and a bit of apples; it was a reasonable portion, not too sweet nor heavy. Dessert is served after the main course and there is usually one option but they will occasionally have another option available for specialized diets – like a gluten free option.

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About VM

Rika & Doni run the vegan food and travel blog Vegan Miam. They love bold, global flavors and have a passion for crafting plant-based recipes inspired by their travels. They aren’t afraid of some funk and fermentation and certainly enjoy a healthy measure of spices.